Part of the video that I didn’t have showed that Norman (and likely the Cats) felt a little disrespected in rankings, such as mine, that had Summit ranked and Kaiser unranked even after Kaiser won the 1st matchup between the teams. You can also tell what a big deal it is to beat Summit.

Above, San Gorgonio’s Malik James (7) and Nate Meadors (5) celebrate after a touchdown in a 55-7 win over Cajon in the first round of the CIF-SS Inland Division playoffs on Friday.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and meaning to write about the similarities between San Gorgonio’s 2014 football team and the Kaiser baseball team last spring.
I’m not trying to say that I think San Gorgonio will come up short of a CIF-SS championship, like Kaiser did last spring.
But stay with me:
Both teams have been good programs for the last few years, but Kaiser’s baseball class of 2014 and San Gorgonio’s class of 2015 have been their best classes in years: starters as sophomores, Division I talents by their senior seasons.
Both aren’t helped by their league, which they dominated, San Gorgonio outscored San Andreas League opponents by a 327-13 score. Kaiser baseball outscored Sunkist League opponents 155-17.
Both teams upgraded their nonleague schedules to better prepare them for the playoffs.
Both teams are/were good but won’t be nearly as good next year.
Now the difference is that while Kaiser had the difficult task of being the favorite/No. 1 seed in the CIF-SS playoffs, San Gorgonio, 9-1 entering the playoffs, isn’t even seeded. And the Spartans are in a division that they were promoted to presumably because the Spartans made the CIF-SS semifinals last year and new SAL teams Rim of the World and Jurupa Hills won CIF-SS titles in lower divisions the last two years.San Gorgonio doesn’t want to duplicate what Kaiser did in the spring: lose before winning a CIF-SS title, and I’m not saying that they will. But regardless of whether they win or lose, San Gorgonio’s football class of 2015 should be appreciated much like Kaiser’s baseball class of 2014, as a remarkable group with bright futures in college.

Joshua Johnson and Kaiser, here against Summit, only have one way they won’t be the league’s No. 1 team for the playoffs.

The Sunkist League is one of those leagues where, if all things go as expected, they will not need to use coin flip results to determine league placement for the playoffs.

Kaiser is favored to defeat Colton and Summit is expected to beat Grand Terrace, which would put Kaiser first, Summit second and Colton third.

But if Colton and Summit win, or if Grand Terrace and Kaiser win, there would be a 3-way tie. And it wouldn’t be different if there had been no upsets.

In the case of Colton and Summit winning, the 3-way tie would be for 1st between Kaiser, Summit and Colton. The coin flip results would put Kaiser first, Summit second and Colton third.

In the case of Grand Terrace and Kaiser winning, the 3-way tie would be for 2nd between Summit, Colton and Grand Terrace. The coin flip results: Summit 2nd, Colton 3rd, Grand Terrace 4th.

So, it sounds like Summit is locked into the No. 2 spot? Not completely. If both games are upsets, and Colton and Grand Terrace win, there would be no coin flips necessary, Colton would be 4-1 in league and go as the No. 1 based on head-to-head, Kaiser would be 4-1 and No. 2, and Grand Terrace would be 3-2 and the No. 3 team (on head-to-head), leaving Summit at 3-2 and No. 4, and vying for an at-large berth.

The 2013 prep football season will soon be upon us, with Week 0 games taking place in four weeks.

Although we are still in the preliminary stages of previews, I thought I’d take a look at some interesting storylines for matchups between San Bernardino County teams from Week 0 and Week 1:

Aug. 30 Rancho Cucamonga at Redlands: Redlands always plays a challenging local nonleague schedule, and this matchup off this year’s schedule. Both teams went to at least the second round in the Inland Division playoffs last year.

Aug. 30 Barstow at Adelanto: A first varsity game is always a big deal, and the Saints get to host in their first varsity tilt.

Aug. 30 Citrus Valley at San Gorgonio: A year ago, Citrus Valley was a favorite to win the East Valley Division title, but was derailed by San Gorgonio in its first game, and never fully recovered. Citrus Valley will look for revenge, but San G. is good.

Aug. 30 Eisenhower vs. Alta Loma at Chaffey HS: A year ago, a 54-0 Eisenhower win in this game showed it was a new era for the Eagles. But with coach Vinny Fazio’s departure after 1 year for Murrieta Valley, there are questions again about Ike and new head coach Mike Clark.

Sept. 5 Summit vs. Redlands East Valley at Citrus Valley HS: REV plays the most challenging nonleague schedule around, and this game is the only nonleague game for the Wildcats against a San Bernardino County team. It just happens to be against a Summit team that was 9-1 before losing in the first round of the playoffs.

Sept. 6 Carter at Redlands: A year ago, Carter went 12-1, but had only one nonleague opponent, Eisenhower, that finished with a winning record. This time, they add another former Citrus Belt League rival, Redlands.

Sept. 6 Indian Springs at Grand Terrace: A year ago, Grand Terrace was the host in its first-ever varsity game, a loss to Riverside Notre Dame in front of a large and vocal crowd. This time, the Titans get to host an Indian Springs team playing its first varsity game. The two coaches, Indian Springs’ Dave DeWoody and Grand Terrace’s Harold Strauss go back to their 8-man football days, when DeWoody was at Riverside Christian and Strauss was at Bloomington Christian.

Sept. 6 Apple Valley at Kaiser: Kaiser surprised some by winning a CIF title and this is its first game in its title defense. Apple Valley felt it got a raw deal in a playoff bid last year.